TGCFNM -Chapter 223 What Are You Trying to Do

As soon as Chu Ling called for the witnesses, an uproar broke out among the gathered townspeople.

Chu Ling did not explain in detail at first. After all the witnesses had taken their places in the hall, she struck the wooden gavel and began the interrogation directly:

“Qin Changfeng, on the eighth day of the ninth month, someone personally saw Master Qi purchase a roast chicken and a jug of Nü’er Hong from your tavern. Is this true?”

Qin Changfeng nodded. “It is true.”

Chu Ling responded with a brief “Good,” then turned to the proprietors of the two apothecaries and continued:

“Liu Wanshan, Meng Sanliang, did Master Qi send Qi Shizhao’s personal attendant, Xiao Fang, to your pharmacies under the pretense of insomnia and restlessness, to purchase a packet of Anmian Powder?”

Liu Wanshan and Meng Sanliang immediately kowtowed. “Yes, Your Honor.”

Anmian Powder could not be dispensed casually—taken in large quantities, it could function as a sedative drug, and the pharmacy would bear responsibility. However, early that morning, Magistrate Wan had already visited them and assured them that as long as they answered truthfully, they would not be implicated. Thus, they admitted it directly.

Finally, Chu Ling turned to the night watchman, Chang Fu.

“Chang Fu, do you confirm that in the middle of the night you saw the eldest young master of the Qi family driving a carriage to pick someone up from the Qi residence’s rear gate?”

Chang Fu immediately prostrated himself. “Your Honor, I remember it clearly. I had just struck the gong and turned the corner to relieve myself when I saw a carriage creeping along. I quietly followed it and saw it stop at the Qi family’s back gate. The driver was indeed the eldest young master. I personally saw Master Qi and Young Master Qi lift a person and casually throw them into the carriage. I presume it was Madam Qi.”

Chu Ling said gravely, “Very well. Magistrate Wan, have them sign their testimonies.”

“Yes, Your Honor.” Wan Sanjin complied and took the statements for them to affix their marks.

After the signed testimonies were presented, Chu Ling struck the gavel and delivered her judgment:

“Madam Qi was drugged unconscious by Master Qi and secretly transported to the residence halfway up the mountain. There, her body was doused with lamp oil and she was thrown into the small wooden hut, intended to be burned alive. Master Qi himself then entered the hut, intending to die as well.”

“However, the fire grew too fierce for him to endure. He secretly ran out crying for help, only to die at the doorway of the residence, where he was later discovered by students climbing the mountain.”

“Therefore, this case is concluded as follows: Master Qi committed murder first, displaying cruel intent. The two are hereby declared divorced posthumously. Madam Qi shall be buried separately under her maiden name of Zhou. Although Master Qi committed murder, he himself is already dead and thus will not be further prosecuted. Case closed!”

Some townspeople could not contain themselves and shouted:

“Your Honor, if Madam Qi was killed by Master Qi, why did he commit suicide?”

“Yes, why would he kill his own wife?”

“Exactly, Your Honor!”

At that moment, Fu Qingyu stepped forward slowly, stood below the hall, and bowed deeply to Chu Ling.

“Your Honor, this student, Fu Qingyu, wishes to report a case. The person I accuse is none other than my own enlightened mentor—Master Qi.”

After speaking, Fu Qingyu personally submitted the written accusation.

Wan Sanjin accepted it and handed it to Chu Ling, whispering, “I had Qingyu write it. It’s very detailed—didn’t even need me to revise it.”

Chu Ling glanced through it carefully and raised a brow. “Indeed, very clear.”

She cleared her throat lightly and looked down at Fu Qingyu.

“I have read your complaint. It is very concise and explicit. You state here that Master Qi took advantage of being your early mentor to engage in malicious moneylending in Dongle City. Is that correct?”

“Yes, Your Excellency,” Fu Qingyu replied.

Chu Ling gave a soft hum. “Speaking of moneylending, I believe the common folk still remember the case of Liu Fu that I tried the day before yesterday. Liu Fu originally borrowed only thirty taels of silver and was supposed to repay it within three months. Yet somehow, the more he repaid, the more he owed. By the time he died, the debt had somehow grown to three hundred taels—and he was even beaten to death by members of the Lin family.”

As she spoke, Chu Ling deliberately paused. When the murmuring below had risen and then gradually subsided, she continued.

“As it happens, in the relatively intact left side of Master Qi’s clothing, we discovered a hidden inner pocket. Inside that pocket was a promissory note resembling a banknote.”

As she spoke, she took out the note and handed it to Wan Sanjin.

Wan Sanjin personally held it up for Fu Qingyu to see, then walked over toward the crowd of commoners and waved it around. “Look at this, all of you! Take a good look! This is the kind of promissory note that sucks people’s blood and gnaws at their bones!”

Chu Ling went on, “Master Qi relied on his reputation and on the fact that he was the enlightenment teacher of the so-called number one young master under heaven. With those advantages, he recklessly issued malicious loans on a large scale. From ordinary commoners to the students of Danbo Academy, he spared no one. That would also explain how Master Qi managed to build such a refined and luxurious residence halfway up Feiyun Mountain.”

Wan Sanjin chimed in, “Because the dirty money he made was simply too much. No wonder Young Master Fu personally came forward to report the case—after all, he wouldn’t want to be used by someone else.”

Chu Ling let out a long hum in agreement.

Standing to one side, Qin Changfeng kept his head lowered the entire time, his heart in utter turmoil.

At that moment, Chu Ling shot him a glance before turning to address the commoners outside.

“It is true that Great Zhou has no explicit law forbidding private lending. Especially when a contract is signed and sealed, one must follow the lender’s rules. That is how a debt of thirty taels becomes three hundred taels. But that was only because Liu Fu was accidentally beaten to death, which stopped it at three hundred. Otherwise, as long as those three hundred taels remained unpaid for even a single day, they would have turned into three thousand… or thirty thousand.”

She deliberately asked, “People of Great Zhou, let me ask you—who among you has three hundred taels? Three thousand? Thirty thousand?”

“Your Excellency, I could work myself to death for a lifetime and never see that much money!”

“That’s right, Your Excellency! I carry goods all day and only earn twenty copper coins!”

“Your Excellency, we farmers depend on the heavens for food. At the end of a whole year, we might not even earn thirty taels—let alone three hundred, three thousand, or thirty thousand!”

“Thirty thousand taels? That much silver could pile up and fill my whole house!”

Chu Ling’s voice turned cold. “Exactly. That is why high-interest lending must never be touched. Once you touch it, your entire life—your next life, and the one after that—will be spent earning money to repay debts. And even then, you may never finish paying it off. When you can’t repay, you sell your sons and daughters to settle the debt. Even death will not release you.”

After speaking, she looked toward Qin Changfeng and suddenly smiled.

“Shopkeeper Qin serves as a guarantor for such loans, does he not? Shopkeeper Qin should know very well that this sort of lending must never be touched. Once touched, it ruins a person’s entire life—does it not?”

Qin Changfeng’s legs gave way, and he fell to his knees. “Your Excellency… Your Excellency is right. It cannot be touched. It cannot.”

Suddenly, Chu Ling struck the sounding block with a loud crack and barked coldly, “Great Zhou may not explicitly forbid lending, but it has never stated that interest rates may be so exorbitant! You recklessly issued loans on such a scale—what exactly were you trying to do?!”

Qin Changfeng looked up blankly. “N-no… we weren’t trying to do anything at all…”